Okay. I'm pretty sure I haven't found out why yuor array is empty. I did notice some other stuff in your code and explanation.
Are you sure @containeeArray is a hash of hashes? It looks more to me like it's an array of hashrefs.
# sorting with sort sort_objects @{$containeeArray$i} didn't work for some reason ??Not sure here, but it seems to me like the value if $i may not be what you think it is. Plus, if @containeeArray really is an array of hashrefs, this code shouldn't work. I would try something like sort sort_objects @containeeArray instead.

Guildenstern
Negaterd character class uber alles!